Lost Opportunities
by Haiza Tyri
Summary: A random series of drabbles about the opportunities various Lost characters lost or seized.
1. Comfort

_Comfort_

Afterward he realized what an opportunity he'd let slip through his fingers. The moment when Juliet stopped screaming at him, put her head on his chest, and sobbed—he should have put his arms around her, gently smoothed her hair, her lovely hair, wiped away her tears, lifted her chin, assured her it was all going to be alright, kissed her—particularly he should have kissed her. Instead his brain had gone blank and he had stood there completely frozen.

Usually Ben seized opportunities—created them before they existed. This one had escaped long before he realized it was there.


	2. Apology

_Apology_

If Ana Lucia could have considered her life after her untimely death (which eventually she did), she would have been grateful for two things. The first was that she had called her mother. It hadn't been a perfect reconciliation, but at least it was an overture her mother could hold on to. The other was that she had apologized to Sayid for the worst thing she had ever done. Whether or not he forgave her was no longer important. She had apologized.

She had never been one to waste opportunities. Sometimes that had worked out badly, but not this time.


	3. Escape

_Escape_

He was going to kill Locke the next time he saw him.

They were about to escape! He was about to get away from this horrible, accursed Island, make it to some civilized country, and get all his people rescued. Locke had ruined the opportunity for everyone. And why? Because he had some kind of emotional dependence on the Island that he translated into a nearly religious fervor. It would be fine if _he_ wanted to stay, but like all religious people he couldn't keep it to himself.

So much for the Hippocratic Oath. He was going to kill him.


	4. Home

_Home_

There was nothing to go back for. The one chance Juliet had to go back home to the US, she was stuck in _1974,_ and there was nothing for her at home. It wasn't even home. She was a child in 1974. Her parents were just now breaking her heart by breaking their marriage. Her profession had no place for her in it.

She never had the opportunity to tell Sawyer it wasn't his fault she stayed, that she hadn't decided to stay just for him. She'd stayed because, with horrible irony, the Island was the only home she had.


	5. Fatherhood

_Fatherhood_

In the seconds it takes for him to die, Roger Linus realizes he's never known his own son. Ben is doing something horrifically inconceivable, and for him to be able to do that, he must be a complete stranger. What does he know about him, anyway? He's a strange kid, smart but an underachiever. That's a pathetic amount to know about your own kid.

And one thing he's never known is how much Ben hates him. Did he do that? He never meant to…he meant to be a good father. Now he'll never get the opportunity to do better.


	6. Truth

_Truth_

"Look," Hugo said, "why didn't you just come to us in the first place, dude? You know, instead of kidnapping us and starting wars and stuff. You could've just come and said, 'Hey, dudes, welcome to the Island. We have some nice houses and stuff. Want a place to live? Oh, and I have this tumor in my back, and you have a spinal surgeon, so, like, we could trade. Food and shelter for surgery. And the Island's kind of weird, dudes, but, like, you'll get used to it.'"

Ben stared at him. The thought had never occurred to him.


	7. Reconcile

_Reconcile_

Alex stared as her dad came striding into the Barracks. He'd been gone for a week. No one would tell her where, but they'd been worried. And now here he came like everything was normal, but his shirt was torn and filthy, he had bloody bandages on, and his face was a mass of cuts and yellow bruises. She almost rushed across the grass to him, but she didn't know whether he would smile and hug her or frown and tell her it was none of her business. And then the opportunity was gone. He never knew she'd been worried.


	8. Money

_Money_

He lost an opportunity to make a massive amount of money that day. But what was he supposed to do? He was going to kill a man for destroying his family, and he hadn't realized how close he was to becoming that man, until he saw the little boy.

He carried the name around to remind himself that his purpose was to kill that man. He carried it around to remind himself that he _wasn't_ that man. But he'd realized he _could_ be that man, and he'd run in sheer terror. It was an opportunity he did not regret losing.


	9. Leverage

_Leverage_

Leverage, that's what he had. Leverage. Some hard-won information, providing just enough leverage to oust that arrogant, selfish, uncaring so-and-so from his position. After all, nothing worked properly under the arrogant so-and-so. When _he_ took over, everything would be alright. This place, this institution of great promise, would run smoothly. Everyone would get what they needed; no one would be passed over and left behind. _He_ would provide good leadership. He would do what was best for everyone.

The arrogant so-and-so parried the thrust: "I will torch Miss Rousseau and her future."

Dr. Linus chose to let the opportunity pass.


End file.
